Raw the bakers and Christmas treat makers

After the success of our Christmas by Colour project and last year’s 11 out of 10 poster, we thought it was time for a change so we decided to try our hand at a bit of baking for this year’s festivities.

Armed with the help of old faithful Delia and a few family favourites from the archive, we put on our pinnys and whipped up some suitably festive delights for our lovely friends and clients to enjoy whilst listening to a good bit of Wham.

Although we’ve been burning the midnight oil to get them all wrapped and ready, seeing the finished jars left us feeling rather satisfied and considering our chances in next year’s Great British Bake Off.

If you fancy trying your hand at making some yourself, we’ve popped the recipes below for you.

Gingerlicious Gingerbread Elves

140g unsalted butter
100g dark muscovado sugar
3 tablespoon golden syrup
350g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
3 balls stem ginger from a jar, chopped

Heat your oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Melt butter, sugar and syrup in a pan. Mix flour, soda, spices and a pinch of salt. Stir in the butter mix and chopped ginger to make a sturdy dough.

Wait until cool then roll out dough to 5mm thick and cut out the men. Lift onto baking sheets. Bake for 10 mins or until golden. Cool for 10 mins then lift onto a rack.

Festive and Fruity Florentines

150g dark chocolate
25g butter, plus a little for greasing
75g caster sugar
10g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
65ml double cream
50g whole almonds, blanched
and cut into thin slivers
50g ready-flaked almonds
50g whole candied peel, chopped
25g glacé cherries, chopped
25g angelica, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 190C/gas 5. Melt 25g of butter with sugar and flour in a saucepan over a very low heat until melted. Gradually add cream, stirring to keep smooth. Add the remaining ingredients, except the chocolate. Stir then remove pan from the heat and cool.

Brush baking sheets with melted butter and dust with flour. Place heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto sheets leaving an inch between each one. Flatten each one with the back of the spoon. Bake on a high shelf for 12-15 mins then leave to cool before adding melted chocolate to the base and a little drizzle on top.

Nut Cracking Cranberry Cookies

175g butter , softened
85g golden caster sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
225g plain flour
75g pistachios
75g dried cranberries
chunks of white chocolate (optional)

Mix butter, sugar and vanilla extract with a wooden spoon. Stir in flour then add pistachios and cranberries (get your hands in if needed to make a dough). Halve the dough and shape into 2 logs about 5cm across. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Slice logs into 1cm-thick rounds, place on a baking tray lined with parchment and bake for 12-15 mins, then leave to cool on the tray.

Grandma’s Snowy Irish Truffles

3 tablespoons of desiccated coconut
3 tablespoons of porridge oats
3 tablespoons of caster sugar
2 tablespoons of finest cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of milk
2oz of best butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Mix the coconut, porridge oats, sugar and cocoa powder together in a bowl. Melt the butter and milk together in a pan and pop the vanilla essence in. Add the melted mixture to the bowl of ingredients and stir together. Finally, roll into balls and coat with some extra coconut to make your truffles look like little snowballs. Pop in the fridge when you’re finished to keep them nice and firm.

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